Research Services. University of Reading. United Kingdom. (n.d.). The research data lifecycle. [Image].  

As you begin any research project, it's important to be aware of WSU Research Data Policies. Understanding the University's stance on the open dissemination of research results, research data ownership, disclosure issues, and IRB policies and procedures are the responsibility of each researcher.
Research Data Management Plans are increasingly required by grants and funding agencies.  It's good research practice to think ahead about how you're going to collect, manage, use, store, share, protect, and preserve the data for your research project.

The manner in which you design your data collection (experiment, observation, survey or other instrument, etc.) is usually developed in coursework, under your advisor's directions, and/or subject to Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. 

It is sometimes useful (and especially while the COVID19 pandemic restricts some activities) to use Secondary Data Sets and Resources that others have collected. Dataset depositories and portals, government and other agencies that make reusable data available, and other researchers' datasets can be explored through the resources listed on the right in this Guide.  Remember that your Librarian is available to help! 

The Libraries have few resources to support data processing and analysis at this time.  We hope to provide more information about Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) such as Atlas.ti, Dedoose, nVivo, etc. in the near future.  The Department of Psychology's  Research Design & Analysis (RDA) service provides assistance with the design of research projects and the statistical analysis of data. The service is available free of charge to Wayne State University faculty, staff, post-doctoral researchers, and graduate students for assistance with research that is not supported by external funding.

Researchers use a variety of strategies to preserve their data.  Issues such as assuring the quality of the data, file formats and conversion, and the metadata which will describe the data set are all considerations.  WSU does not currently provide a repository for large datasets themselves, however, openICPSR offers a self-publishing repository for social, behavioral, and health sciences research data. This method is particularly well-suited for WSU researchers who need to publish their raw data associated with a journal article so that other researchers can replicate their findings.  See the "About openICPSR" link at the bottom of their page to explore depositing a research data set.

Researchers disseminate information about their research in a variety of ways.  Sharing your information with other WSU researchers makes your data accessible and identifies you as a resource to your fellow researchers.  We encourage you to share information about your data in the WSU Data Catalog.  A robust description of your data's existence and potential availability for re-use helps to enrich your (and WSU's) research network.  Please contact Karen Liston (AQ8554@wayne.edu) about creating a record for the WSU Data Catalog. 

Rather than creating their own dataset, researchers also use secondary datasets (i.e. data collected by someone else) to generate new insights through their own unique interrogation and analysis. Accessible data that can ethically be re-used can be challenging to find and discover.  As well as using the discovery tools listed on this page, it's strategic to stay aware of datasets and resources that appear in the notes and references of the research articles you read, and remember to contact your Librarian for assistance!